today, our new nbc news battleground map has a reality check for both campaigns. this morning hillary clinton boarding her new campaign plane heading to florida today. continuing her new habit of talking to reporters. >> good morning, everybody. >> good morning. >> i'm coming back later, they convinced me i need to. >> yesterday wasn't so bad, right? >> it was great. it was great. i love having a plane. the plane makes everything so much easier. >> hillary 2.0, joining me now, kasie hunt covering clinton's speech coming up today in tampa. nbc's kristen welker outside clinton headquarters in brooklyn and jacob ras cone in virginia beach where donald trump is campaigning this afternoon and in new york, senior polical editor, mark murray. mark, you've got the battleground map, tell us the big moves in this new battleground map as we head to the finish. >> yeah, andrea, this is our new september battleground map that we ended up having and it shows overall that hillary clinton has a 272 to 174 electoral lead over

donald trump. two changes in the past month. in north carolina, we had actually had this in the lean democratic column, this came after our august nbc/wall street journal poll. hillary clinton with a nine-point lead in north carolina. a lot of the polling has narrowed, in most polls she's still ahead in north carolina, but we move at the toss-up. we also ended up putting the one electoral vote in nebraska. that's out in the omaha area. that actually been lean democrat, we ended up putting it in the toss-up column as well. and so that brings hillary clinton's lead to 227 to 174, you need 270 electoral votes to be able to win. she does have a significant advantage here. and one of the big reason why is she has the advantage, andrea, she's ahead in virginia. for example. she's ahead in colorado. she's also ahead in new hampshire, and you end up having those leads and those three states, and that's what builds that lead.

ian despite the toss-up status in places like ohio, florida, so that is the reality right now that we have for 63 days to go. >> and mark, just a quick point there, in omaha, in that district, that's where warren buffett pledged he was going to be out on election day going door to door if necessary to get people to the polls. he says he wanted to turn that district and turn that area for hillary clinton. and then new hampshire is of course where we saw two campaign appearances for the first time soloing bernie sanders yesterday. so that's a big factor there. a lot of interest in that senate race too. >> absolutely, andrea, yeah, bernie sanders's held and most of the poll wefs seen show her with a single digit or some double digit leads there. >> and the theme today, mark, as you well know is national security going into our commander in many chief forum tomorrow. on the intrepid, both candidates, hillary clinton and donald trump, kasie hunt in tampa today. tampa of course is the

headquarters, it's a military town to a certain extent. and that's where hillary clinton today is going to give her commander in chief speech of, another one similar to san diego, but really zeroing in on what she claims are the inadequacies. the unprepared risk of having donald trump as commander in chief. >> reporter: that's right, andrea. and this, of course, and you remember well, you were at the vet speech in san diego with me where she really hit her stride. hitting donald trump on this topic. criticizing him as unfit to be commander in chief. so i think you can expect to hear that as the focus today here in tarp as you said, it is a military town. driving in from the airport, you see the signs from the air force base, et cetera, so that's a natural fit in many ways. her campaign also up with this new ad essentially focussing on the same things, talking about veterans and donald trump's relationship with them. mentioning, of course, john mccain and what he to say there. and there's also from the outside group, the super pacs

supporting her are a really tough new ad that echos that old johnson ad, daisy against barry goldwater. it uses imagery of nuclear war. it doesn't have any words, except for donald trump's own. and altogether, this was i think the push they're going to make. i think you're also going to see it through election day, n just this week, andrea. >> and we're going to be playing some of those ads later on in the show, kasie, you teed that up perfectly, and kristen welker in brooklyn. the kplinz campaign avoiding contact with reporters, and she did it yesterday, and it was really rather painless. she had to answer questions, mine among them. let me play that for you, but she's back at it today and again talking to reporters on this flight to tampa. let me play a little bit the of the exchange. >> madame secretary, the fbi report sited several instances, more than nine where you could not recall key facts about the classification system, about how

you were trained when you went in, about what you did when you left office on archiving. does that, to critics, indicate a casual attitude towards classification and towards the way sequence work were kept when you were secretary of state. >> not at all. i went into the state department understanding classification. i'd been on the senate armed services committee for years before i was secretary of state. i take classification seriously. the fact i couldn't remember certain meetings, whether or not they had occurred doesn't in any way affect the commitment that i had and still have to the treatment of classified material. >> kristen, brooklyn headquarters wants to change the subject from the e-mails, but again today citizen's united got their monthly dump from the state the president, according to court order of her calendars. these were from 2011.

it doesn't seem as though they can completely escape this issue for the rest of this campaign. >> reporter: it doesn't. her relationship with the clinton foundation and the e-mail issue continues to dog her candidacy. there's no doubt about that, but what we are seeing, andrea, and the fact that you guys were able to ask her so many yes, sir yesterday on the splaen a shift in strategy. a realization that she has to answer some of these very tough questions in order to try to turn around the trust deficit that she's dealing with right now with voters, in addition to your very tough questions that you asked, she answered questions on the clinton foundation underzoring, defending her -- what she says was -- there was no wrong doing or no pay to play between the clinton foundation and her state department. and of course answering questions about her health. she had that coughing fit yesterday which raised eyes. it's seasonal allergies, it's nothing else. she was asked if that would fuel republican conspiracy theories and she sortd of brushed that

aside. and i think what you're going to see as secretary clinton trying to more aggressively get out in front of the headlines that have dogged her campaign. by the way, also tried to turn it the page during that press gaggle, put the focus on russia and she said in her strongest terms yet, andrea, sthaebl russia, vladimir putin is trying to med until this campaign, andrea. >> that was a really big step forward in terms of what she was saying and based -- the trigger to that was a washington post investigations which had some really troubling data. and she was keying off on that. what she said today about her cough and the problems she's been having, we were all having problems frankly on that plane, it was pretty dry, she's doubled her antihistamine. she's hoping not to the have those problems again today. jacob ras cone is in virginia beach where donald trump is headed today. he's going to be talking to people there, around a round table, jacob. again, yesterday, he refusing to even discuss releasing his taxes.

the clinton team making a big deal out of this. and we in the press wanting to know that is the best measure of what his business involvement would be and whether there are potential conflicts were he to be elected. but still refusing to release his taxes. >> reporter: and trump really likes to talk about clinton in terms of transparency, but it always comes back at him, this issue of well, why don't you release your taxes and yesterday he repeated something that he said several times over the last few months which is that nobody cares, he says, about my taxes except maybe a few members of the press. in fact, back in may when asked what his tax rate was, he said it's none of your business. this comes a at good time because just last week, there was a university poll talking about this, and it showed that 60% or so of likely voters either thought it was very important or somewhat important to see his tax returns. and only 30d % said that they didn't think that it was important to see his tax returns. and among that group, 50% of

people asked likely voters, thought that it was -- he was not releasing his returns for a reason other than his audit. of course the campaign has said the same thing over the months that he will release his taxes, once the audit is complete that could be trump says very soon or not see soon. but that's where it stands. he would be the first nominee not to do so of course going back to 1976, andrea. >> indeed. and in fact, tax experts have told us that there is absolutely no restriction on releasing your taxes when you're under audit. most people in his bracket, like warren buffett who was of course a clinton campaign supporter saying they're always under audit nap just coming with the territory of being a billionaire. thanks very much. of course, jacob rascon and of course, kristen welker and kasie

hunt and mark murray. coming up tomorrow, nbc news and iraq and afghanistan veterans of america are hosting hillary clinton and donald trump back to back in a live televised prime time forum. focussing exclusively on issues that the next president will have to confront as commander in chief. that's tomorrow night, 8:00 eastern on both nbc and msnbc. and coming up, homeland security secretary jeh johnson coming up next on "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. the place for politics. make cars made plastics that make them lighter? the lubricants that improved fuel economy. even technology to make engines more efficient. what company does all this? exxonmobil, that's who. we're working on all these things to make cars better and use less fuel. helping you save mey and reduce emissions. and you thought we just made the gas. energy lives here.

it takes a lot of wo... but i really love it.s. i'm on the move all day long... and sometimes, i just don't eat the way i should. so i drink boost® to get the nutrition that i'm missing. boost complete nutritional drink has 26 essential vitamins and minerals, including calcium and vitamin d to support strong bones and 10 grams of protein to help maintain muscle. all with a great taste. i don't plan on slowing g wn any time soon. stay strong. stay active with boost®.

hotels.com's rewards program for every 10 nights i stay, i get one free. cell phone captain obvious. this on the other hand, will not be simple. you gonna have tride the belt. hotels.com. so simple, it's the obvious choice. i have liquids in my body!

i hear the vilification and of the efforts to tar you with the broad brush of suspicion. i hear about the bullying and the physical attacks that muslims are experiencing

nationwide, they are familiar to me. i recognize them. i look out on this run of american muslims and i see myself. i see a similar strug that will my african american ancestors have fought to win, acceptance in this country. >> homeland security secretary jeh johnson, the first cabinet secretary to speak to the largest convention of muslim americans. they were gathered this weekend outside of chicago. secretary johnson joins me now. you speak of the parallels, it's great to see you. and to talk about what muslim-americans have been experiencing given the nature of the rhetoric, starting with the muslim ban which we first discussed a year ago december -- >> yes. >> and how it has pervaded the conversation both political and otherwise in our country. >> well, first, andrea, i think it's critical in this current environment where the islamic

state, other terrorist organizations are trying to target american muslim communities for recruitment. and we build bridges to american muslim communities which i've made a priority since i've been secretary of homeland security. i've been in multiple cities talking to american muslim communities, i use that plural on purpose because they are a very diverse group. i receive this invitation to come speak to this convention of literally thousands of american muslims in one place and i thought it was imperative to accept. i do see parallels in history, i'm a student of history, and i look at the struggle of honest, hard working muslim americans who are patriotic people to win full acceptance in this society and i see prior examples of the same thing, whether it's african americans, whether it's catholic americans, jewish americans, i see parallels of the same thing. and the message i wanted to send to this community that was

gathered at this convention is if you know the american story, you know that ultimately you will win full acceptance and become a part of the fabric of our country. that was the message i wanted to send and i think it was well-received. >> and also speaking there with a khans, you met with the khans. >> i did. >> whom you had not met before. and your impressions of what they've gone through as the gold star family. >> naturally, mr. and mrs. khan, the gold star parents were probably the two most recognizable people at this convention. i had the opportunity to meet them and i was impressed because they are remarkably humble, dignified people. they've been through a lot obviously and i was just really pleased to meet them. he showed me his copy of the pocket constitution and so that was, that was a good occasion for me. >> immigration.

it's unclear exactly what is the policy. we've had a the love debate. i know you're not going to get into that, how would a deportation force work? if you had to deport four, five, six million of the 11 or 12 million muslim -- rather, undocumented immigrants here, for whatever reason, how would you go about doing that as a practical manner? >> well, under the enforcement priorities we've set, we actually have prioritized the removal of convicted criminals. we have prioritized the removal of people who are threats to public safety. we stress that and focussed on it even more with the presidents enforcement priorities which i announced in november 2014. and so, we've been out there looking for convicted criminals who are undocumented on the streets and arresting them and sending them home. we just had a very large operation in philadelphia where

we rounded up over 100 undocumented, convicted criminals, many of whom frankly should not have been running around the streets and so, we're bringing these people into custody and we're removing them. this is our enforcement priority right now. >> and the white house has been criticized by many in the community in the mexican-american community saying there's too much deportation. >> the level of deportations over the last five, six years gone down, but we're focussed even more intensely on removing convicted criminals, threats to public safety and national security. that's the direction that i gave our immigration enforcement work force and they're complying with it. >> now i don't know if you've seen these trump rallies and i have been watching very closely, and it's heart breaking when he brings out these moms and a few dads, the angel moms he calls them and they all speak about their children or spouses who have been killed by criminals, they say, who were undocumented.

they use more pa jortive languages. >> the stories are heart breaking, truly. i've met with parents of those killed by undocument ed and firt of all, we have discontinued the controversial secure communities program where cities and states and counties were refusing to work with our immigration work force. and we've replaced that with something called the priority enforcement program. i'm pleased that we've been seeing progress where states and cities and counties are coming back us to wanting to work with us again because we've told them we're interested in taking from your jails the most dangerous, undocumented criminal that you have. and so i am pleased that they're working with us again and we've actually reduced the number of convicted criminals who have been released from immigration detention. and i want to continue moving in that direction. >> now russian hacking. there's a lot of lot of reporting, washington post,

reports on security national concerns that russia may be trying to get involved through this hacking of democratic organizations, primarily, get involved in somehow swag at election. and we don't know what could happen on election day. what is homeland security doing to protect the american election from foreign interference. >> well first, we have a lot of confidence in the integrity of the election process itself. there are some 9,000 state and local jurisdictions that are involved in the election process, including national elections, we've looked at a fair amount of it. we've looked at what states and cities do. we have a lot of confidence in the process itself, we're in the mode now of wanting to leave no stone unturned, and sew, what dhs, my department, has been going over the last several weeks is contacting state election officials to say, we want to leave no stone unturned. there are services we can offer by way of vulnerability to

detection, incident response, we're in a general environment where there's an increasing level of sophistication by cyber attackers. across the spectrum, whether it's assassination state actors, hacktivists, and so we want to the inform state election officials of what we see on a national level as best practices and we're doing that right now. >> with all do respect, the office of personal management was hacked 21, 22 million people, perhaps you as well, we could see where recently vetted in the last number of years, russia was being held responsible for one of the hacks against the white house and the state department. china was also implicated, and others. so if they can hack our agencies how can we pretend we're protecting the election? >> the election process is not tied to the internet grid.

>> it's electronic in many instances. >> it's not generally linked to the internet. in terms of federal.gov, we're moving in the right direction. dhs is now installing across lots of federal agencies, including opm now, the ability to not just monitor and detect cyber intrusions, but to block them as well. we're in a much better place than we were as recently as a year ago. pursuant to a pretty aggressive timetable that i've set for the federal.gov system. >> thanks so much, jeh johnson, always a pleasure. >> thank you. and up in the air, clinton and trump taking off for their final sprint to election day. reporters on board. >> i am so happy to have all of you with me. >> have you missed us? >> i was just waiting for this moment. hmmmmmm..... hmmmmm... [ "dreams" by beck ]

the turbocharged hmdream machine. the volkswagen golf gti. named one of car and driver's 10best, 10 years in a row. parts a and b and want more coverage, guess what? you could apply for a medicare supplement insurance plan whenever you want. no enrollment window. no waiting to apply. that means now may be a great time to shop for an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, inred by unitedhealthcare insurance company. medicare doesn't cover everything. and like all standdized medicare supplement insurance plans, these help cover some of what medicare doesn't pay. so don't wait. call now to request ur free decision guide. it could help you find the aarp medicare supplement plan that works for you. these types of plans have no networks, so you get to choose any doctor who accepts

medicare patient rates are competitive, and they're the only plans of their kind endorsed by aarp. remember - these plans t you apply all year round. so call today. because now's the perfect time to learn more. go long. is it a professor who never stops beina student? is it a caregiver determined to take care of her own? or is it a lifetime of work that blazes the path to your passions? your personal success kes a financial partner who values it as much as you do. learn more at tiaa.org be the you who doesn't cover your moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. be the you who shows up in that dress. who hugs a friend. who is done with treatments that don't give you clearer skin. be the you who controls your psoriasis with stelara®

just 4 doses a year after 2 starter dose stelara® may lower your ability to fight infections and may increase your risk of infections and cancer. some serious infections require hospitalization. before treatment, get tested for tuberculosis. before starting stelara® tell your doctor if you think you have an infection or have symptoms such as: fever, sweats, chills, muscle aches or cough. always tell your doctor if you have any signs of infection, have had cancer, if you develop any new skin grorohs or if anyone in your house needs or has recently received a vaccine. alert your doctor of new or worsening problems, including headaches, seizures, confusion and vision problems these may be signs of a rare, potentially fatal brain condition. some serious allergic reactions can occur. do not take stelara® if you are allergic to stelara® or any of its ingredients. most people using stelara® saw 75% clearer skin and the majority were rated as cleared or minimal at 12 weeks. be the you who talks to your dermatologist about stelara®. welcome back, our new nbc news battleground map shows

hillary clinton with a clear electoral advantage over donald trump despite polls. mike murphy hosts the radio-free gop contest. he ran the right supporting jeb bush during the republican primaries and joins me now. pleasure to see you. as an expert in all of this, how do you, taking a look, what is your read of it on this day after labor day? >> we're a little over 60 days out and trump is in big trouble. what you're seeing is kind of a surround and squeeze strategy by hillary clinton trying to win the traditional swing states, but also carry the map a little further, the states that have leaned republican, but been battleground in the past. so trump needs to change up his game and find a way to appeal to a lot more voters pretty quickly or even without with all her weaknesses, she's got him on the run. these are not good numbers. >> when you look at the cnn/orc national poll with trump ahead margin of error 45 to hillary

clinton 43 in a four way race, is that cause for concern? should that be cause for concern for democrats? >> well, i'm a believer that all campaigns should run like they're two points behind, but these four way polls are quite artificial. i could walk down the street with a $50 bill and some pictures and get somebody to identify either of the third party candidates, they wouldn't be able to do it. until they get into a major debate and get attention, the four way poll is very misleading. and the the two way data. you can see people don't like either candidate, but trump is always stuck down around 41 while hillary tends to move between 45, 44, and 48. so, the whole race has been people going from undecided to hillary back and forth when trump is tied down there in the low 40s where he's stuck. >> now, there's been a lot of reporting about the clinton foundation justifiably. what about the trump foundation and it's donation when pam bondy's office was considering, considering joining an

investigation into fraud, alleged fraud at trump university. we understand the foundation was fined, the fine was paid by trump. trump himself was not fined. >> well, i think it is in general terms. i don't know all the facts, but clearly there are tremendous questions about trump university. i think if there's anything that was right for an investigation, it would be that. along with the clinton foundation. i don't know about quid pro quos with attorney general bondy, but it looks a little fishy and with the attention that the clinton campaign has earned what they behavior and foundation and only fair that trump's slippery maneuvers give a good look too. quid pro quo, that's always very complicated, i don't know all the facts, but it's, it's worth the bad attention it's getting, i believe. >> and i want to ask you about the weekend coverage out of asia where president obama was at the very least, disrespected by the chinese on arrival.

it was a complete scene on the tarmac where the stairs weren't there. trump trying to make a big deal out of this, but then the press pool was held back and there was a real argument with susan rice and other officials there, you know, between the chinese and the americans. then you've got this extraordinary criticism from the phil pea know leader which elude to the white house cancelling a meeting with the president where he said disparaging thing about the president's mother. >> right, right. >> is this normal to be expected, or is this particularly a lack of respect for u.s. power and u.s. prom pans in? >> it's a complete lack of respect for our power. the president's problem is, world politics is a very rough neighborhood and he is not respected. you can trace it back to the syrian red line and other things he's done. he is not a president that the foreign particularly kind of the more loudish elements including the chinese leadership in that

is somebody they respect like america used to be respected. the problem is obama is the problem of weakness, trump's the problem of reckless, loudishness and ill-informed, you know, nature on most issues. so trump is not the answer to the obama problem. i'm not a clinton supporter, but the problem is we don't really have an answer to our foreign policy problems running. but that, that's what happens when primary voters make their choices. we're kind of stuck. >> and finally, what about all of the smoke around the vladimir putin and russia's situation? you've got putin and the president facing off, not reaching an agreement on even a ceasefire, humanitarian ceasefire in the syrian civil war to get aid into besieged cities like aleppo. i mean, there could not be worse dynamics between these two, and also, allegations that russia's trying to interfere in our election and continuing to hack. >> well, putin's a strong man type who loves to make miss chief, and clearly there is a

lack of respect for our president, they're treating him like a super lame duck. we won't have anything until we have a new president. i have no faith there'd be any meaning project because he's massively qualified by knowledge or temperament. it's not unnormal. it's not a surprise that in the last weeks of an election year, the incumbent lame duck president is unable to get anything done. obama's failures in the past have made the situation more tenable d foreign leaders ink they can take advantage. >> thanks so much. great to see you. >> thank you. and coming up, the commander in chief test ahead of tomorrow's prime tie forum on nbc and msnbc. both hillary clinton and donald trump trying to prove that they are battle ready. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc, the place for politics. ops us from g right by our customers. who's with me? i'm in. i'm in. i'm in. i'm in. ♪ ♪

one, two, - wait, wait. wait - where's tina? doing the hand thing? yep! we are all in for our customers. ally. do it right. we are all in for our customers. we've been hearing so much about how you're a digital company, so you can see our confusion. ge is an industrial company that actually builds world-changing machines. machines that can also communicate digitally. like robots. did you build that robot? that's not a robot, th's my coworker earl. he builds jet engines with his human hands. what about that robot? that is a vending machine, ricky. john, give him a dollar. if you're approaching 65, now's the time to get your ducks in a row. to learn about medicare, and the options you have. you see, medicare doesn't cover everything - only about 80% of your part b medical expenses.

the rest is up to you. so if 65 is around the corner, think about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement insurance plans, they help cover some of what medicare doesn't pay. and could save you in out-of-pocket medical costs. so don't wait. call to request your free decision guide. and gather the information now to help you choose a plan later. these types of plans let you pick any doctor or hospital that takes medicare patients. and there's a range of plans to choose from, depending on you needs and your budget. so if you're turning 65 soon, call now and get started. because the time to think about tomorrow...is today. go long.

late last night, president obama became the first sitting

president american president to visit the southeastern asian nation. both countries looking to put a painful past of war an conflict behind them. this as the newly elected president is the apologizing for a remark to say the least about president obama after the white house cancelled a meeting between the two leaders. ron allen has more from loas, ron. >> reporter: given what the philippine president said, there was no way that president obama could have a bilateral one on one meeting with him. his aid said that the meeting would be all about that and wouldn't be about the constructive issues that the united states and the philippine government are trying to deal with. and the emphasize as well, the president's aids did that despite the president's comments and despite his time in office, the relationship between the united states and the philippines still remains strong. philippines of course is a partner to the transpacific partnership, the massive trade deal that the president is trying to push through congress. that's the big issue that he wants to focus on out here

because so many of the nations at the summits he's attending are parties to that agreement. so, there's a possibility that the president of the philippines and president obama might chat as it were, but no formal meeting. here as well, the president's going to focus on loas. of course this is a historic visit, first sitting u.s. president to come here. there was a huge awful legacy of the vietnam war here as you know, millions of unemployed bombs littering the country side, the toll it's taking is enormous. some 20,000 people killed or injured since the bombing stopped during the nearly past half century. just amazing numbers of ordinance out there killing and injuring farmers. and a lot of e victims are children who pick up the bomblets and think they're toys. so, united states is going to increase the fund, $90 million to help with the removal effort. that 90 million is about as much as the u.s. has spent here in totally. the obama administration was spending about $3 million when

it came into office. this is significant ramping up of operations here. and at the same time, the united states is also trying to increase efforts to find and identify the remains of american troops. the loas government said it's going to help in that effort. busy agenda, and these remarks by the philippine president, just a big distraction that i'm sure president obama is determined to just move on past. andrea. >> nbc's ron allen, thank you so much, this historic trip. the first sitting president and tomorrow commander in chief forum, both nominees focussing today on national security. trump today announcing endor endorsements from 88 retired a millers and generals. and this from mike pence just moments ago. >> despite traveling millions of miles as our secretary of state, the world is more dangerous today than the day that barack obama and hillary clinton took over our foreign policy. our allies are less secure, our

enemies are more emboldened. >> and this as hillary clinton is targeting trump's past comments about the military. in a new campaign ad. >> i know more about the isis than the generals do. john mccain, a war hero, he's not a war. he was a war hero because he was captured. i like people that weren't captured, okay. donald trump compared his sacrifices to the sacrifices of two parents who lost their son in in war. >> how would you answer that? what sacrifice kps. >> i've made a lot of sacrifices. built great structures. >> those are sacrifices? >> chief international security and diplomacy analyst, admiral, thank you very much for being with us. first of all, you just saw that ad this battle of the future commanders in chief, donald trump today releasing a list of 88 former admirals does this

bolster his argument that he is prepared to take over if he's elected? any candidates like any enforce that he or she obtained and enforcement for a general and admiral spornt. let's put it in perspective, there are about a thousand admirals and generals on active duty today every year about 300 retire. as i look at this list, it spans decades, so 88, there are admiral and generals, but 88 is not frankly a big number in the context, but it is better than none. >> i want to ask you about the diplomacy we've been witnessing. president obama against vladimir putin, the head to head, face off if you will, the glares back and forth, no solution at all on syria, on even a temporary ceasefire for humanitarian aid. it does seem that the u.s. is more disrespected in china at

this meeting than it has been in the past. >> well, as you've reported on already very well, the whole ramp gate challenge, people screaming at susan rice, the national security advisor, press corpse jammed off to one side. it is a surprising level of confusion. let's put it that way. and i think it's pretty typical at the end of an administration that there is a sense that the current president is a bit of a lame duck. even so, andrea, as you look at those pictures and hear those stories, this really sl a level that's quite disturbing. >> and the philippines, here you've got the philippines leader, who we have a very important base there, a naval base in the philippines, and this kind of i don't even know thousand describe what he said about president obama. >> i have never heard a serious head of state or government

describe an ally, head of state or government in that regard. we have to remember, we have a treaty of alliance with the philippines. we have a long history there, half of my career was spent in the pacific in and out of navy bases in the philippines. and by the way, i've never had an unpleasant event with the philippine nation, they are generally gracious, wonderful hosts and hostesses. so it is very surprising, the president did the right thing, disavowing the meeting and i'll close by saying, pretty shocking, considering the pressure china is putting on the philippines in the south china sea. the philippines need the united states as an ally, having head of state go after our president, not very good strategy. >> admiral, thank you very much. thanks for being with us today. and coming up tomorrow, nbc news along with iraq and afghanistan veterans of america hosting hillary clinton and donald trump back to back. a live televised prime time

forum focussing exclusively on issues that the next president will have to confront as commander in chief. tomorrow night, 8:00 eastern on both nbc and msnbc. and coming up here, deep in the heart of texas, there is a big surprise in the washington post new 50 state poll. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. the place for politics. start yours with philips sonicare, the no.1 choice of dentists. compared to oral-b 7000, philips sonicare flexcare platinum removes significantly more plaque. this is the sound of sonic thnology cleaning deep between teeth. hear the differenc get healthier gums in just 2 weeks vs a manual toothbrush and experience an amazing feel of clean. innovaon and you. philips sonicare. save now when you buy philips sonicare. philips sonicare. i absolutely love my new but the rent is outrageous. good thing geico offers affordable renters insurance. with great coverage it protects my personal belongings should they get damaged, stolen or destroyed. [doorbell] uh, excuse me. delivery.

hey. lo mein, szechwan chicken, chopsticks, soy sauce and you got some fortune cookies. have a good one. ah, these small new york apartments... protect your belongings. let geico help you with renters insurance. hillary clinton: i'm hillary clinton and i approve this message. vo: in times of crisis america depends on steady leadership. donald trump: "knock the crap out of them, would you? seriously..."vo: clear thinking... donald trump: "i know more about isis than the generals do, believe me." vo: and calm judgment. donald trump: "and you can tell them to go fu_k themselves." vo: because all it takes is one wrong move. dona trump audio only: "i would bomb the sh_t out of them." vo: just one.

(jessica) so the new recipe of beneful is really excellent. the first ingredient is chicken. (riley) man, this chicken is spectacular! (jessica) i had to start hiding the bag because he would try to put his face in it all day. yeah you love it, don't you? you love it so much! i feel like when he eats beneful,

he kind turns into a puppy again. it's protein. it's vegetables. it's grains. i mean, like that sounds like a dinner i'd make for myself, right? (riley) hey it's a big bag. just have some of mine. (vo) try new beneful healthy weight with chicken. now with real chicken as the number one iredient, healthful. flavorful. beneful. and welcome back. we're now in in that critical final stretch, two months to the race of the white house and surprising new look at the road map to 270 electoral votes. the washington post survey monkey 50 state poll today shows clinton with a clear lead in 19 states. and washington, d.c. most stunning takeaway, clinton's actually leading trump barely in the deep red state of texas. this has the dallas morning news editorial board today publishes a strong rebuke to donald trump. the first time endorsing a democrat since 1964. chris alyssa and ruth marcus,

deputy editorial page editor and columnist. chris, first to you, let's talk about texas. i don't think anyone really thinks that hillary clinton is going to win texas. that said, this is a lot closer than anyone might have expected. >> i think that's right, and it's indicative of the larger donald trump problem. which is that he still is not united all republicans. once he does that, andrea, i think he will win texas. he has not united all republicans, people who call themselves republicans, whether they are part of the base or more swingy voting republicans. he has not united those people. two, any state that is a significant non-white population is going to be closer than you might expect. texas is a great example of that. large african american population as a really large and growing hispanic population. when you are getting 4% of the black vote and 13 or 14 or 15% of the hispanic vote in a state that has a big chunk of those votes. it's going to add up quickly against you.

those unify the white vote in a state like texas, and he has to hope that all the republicans rally to him. i think they will, presidential elections, that's usually what we see no matter who the candidates are. >> and i misspoke a moment ago, it was not an endorsement from the dallas morning news, it was actually just slamming trump, but not actually literally endorsing clinton. but that said, ruth marcus, the trump language against clinton, let me play a little bit of what donald trump has said in the last 24 hours about her and her response. >> you've often talking about hillary clinton's stamina. >> right. >> you've even said she doesn't look presidential. >> i really do believe that, yeah. >> what do you mean by that? >> i don't think she has a presidential look. and when you see all of the money going into hillary clinton's bank account, to have her, give me a break. hillary clinton would be a disaster. >> what did he say today?

he said something -- >> you don't look presidential. zealous. >> do you think in general she would be the first, but he could he possibly do that. >> i don't know, that's for you guys to pine upon. >> so ruth, all of this business about looking presidential, what does looking presidential mean? >> ge rks, i wonder what he could mean by that. look, we've had, since the start of the country, one mold of presidents. which are men. and when -- i think it's actually surprising that he said looking presidential and it was surprising even from donald trump that he would repeat that because it really aggravates a problem that he already and a problem that actually is illustrated in this poll which is this enormous deficit with white college-educated women. i don't think that they're going to respond very well, certainly this white college educated woman is not going to respond very well to the notion that she

doesn't look presidential. >> and by the way, hillary clinton right now, second day in a row talking to reporters on the plane on the way down to tampa. one of the first questions she was asked was about donald trump saying that the american people don't care whether he releases his taxes, and as we reported earlier with jacob rascon, the poll showed that the american people, big majority of them do care. and do want to know more and he is the first major party nominee in decades and decades to not reveal his taxes and business interests. >> well, and look, andrea, if you're going to make the case as i think donald trump should strategically speak, going to make the case that hillary clinton can't be trusted, she's not transparent, she's not honest, you can't then on the other hand be the first major party candidate in forever to not release your tax returns. transparency goes both ways, this is the same about this what i take to be a ridiculous debate about her health, the same

thing. donald trump has a paragraph letter saying he'd be the healthiest person ever elected president. you can't demand things that you yourself are not willing to give. that's not transparency, that's a one way street. >> and we're going to have to leave it there. ruth marcus and chris alyssa, thank you both. coming up, taking care of business. the trump effect as congress getz back to the work. today, the final session before the election. this is "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc the place for politics. i'm a smoker for life." i wanted to be a non-smoker and i did it thanks to chantix. along with support, chantix (varenicline) is proven to help people quit smoking. chantix reduced my urge to smoke some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, ded and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. some had seizures while taking chantix. if you have any of these, stop chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of mental health problems, which could get worse or of seizures.

don't take chantix if you've had a serious allergic or skin reaction to it. if you have these, stop chantix and call your doctor right away as some can be life-threatening. tell your doctor if you have heart or blood vessel problems, or develop new or worse symptoms. get medical help right away if you have symptoms of a heart attack or stroke. decrease alcohol use while taking chantix. use caution when driving or operating machinery. most common side effect is nausea. this is for real. i'm a non-smoker. ask your doctor if chantix is right for you.

and congress comes back today after a long summer recess. only 24 days to go to pass a temporary funding bill to keep the government up and running while they go off then and campaign for reelection. and they're also facing arguments over emergency funding for zika prevention in florida and of course the rest of the gulf coast. nbc's kelly o'donnell is live on capitol hill, kell, they don't have much time, and they may not even take all the time that is allotted because they didn't want to go out there and

campaign. >> reporter: i think we can predict they will not take all of the time allotted. we are here just off the house floor in the capital in a section that is known as will rogers named for the statue off to my right. and when you talk about not much time, there are some big ticket items that have to be done. including keeping the government funded beyond the end of this month when the fiscal year kicks in. there is the issue of zika funding. which the house has passed, but it's in a political fight on the senate side. they'll take one more vote on that, procedural vote, late today. it is not expected to move forward, it's a debate over how to put the funding together and where money should come out of, those kinds of things that are a part of the making of the sausage of legislation and everyone knows that's a high priority item, but it has not been resolved yet. house speaking paul ryan today was talking about some of those final to do items before they take off. and he said he was confident the government would be funded and there would be a resolution to

zika. how exactly congress gets there is the part that needs to be sorted out, andrea, but i can also tell you there is a bit of news where the campaign trail will ll come right into the halls of congress. the speaker has invited the vice presidential nominee mike pence, formerly a member of the house, republican conference to speak to fellow republicans next tuesday. now, i also remember when paul ryan, member of the house and the running mate of mitt romney did just the same thing. it's a way to give members of the republican conference, many. whom will be up for reelection themselves a snapshot of what's happening inside the campaign. the trump-spence campaign and it will also be a bit of a homecoming for mike pence who spent 12 years here on capitol hill, andrea. >> kelly o'donnell, thank you very much. back on the hill where the congress is now reconvening, at least for a few days or weeks. thanks again, kell. and more ahead coming up on "andrea mitchell reports." we'll be right back. aid it's so hard to be a musician, but i can't imagine doing anything else. now that the train makes it easier to get here,

the neighborhood is really changing. i'm always hopping on the train, running all over portland. i have to go wherever the work is. trai with innovative siemens technology help keep cities moving, so neighborhoods and businesses can prosper. i can book 3 or 4 gigs on a good weekend. i'm booked solid for weeks. it takes ingenuity to make it in the big city. i'm booked solid for weeks. ♪ everything kids touch iat school sticks with them. make sure the germs they bring home don't stick around. use clorox disinfecting products. because no one kills germs better than clorox.

ma i accept i'm not the deep sea fisherman i was. i accept i'm not out on the ocean wrestling marlin. i even accept i have a higher risk of stroke due to afib, a type of irregular heartbeat not caused by a heart valve problem. but i won't go after anything with less than my best. so if i can go for something better than warfarin, i'll do that too. eliquis. eliquis reduced the risk of stroke better than warfarin. plus, it h significantly less major bleeding than warfarin. eliquis had both. that's what i wanted to know. don't stop taking eliquis unless your doctor tells you to as stopping increases yo risk of having a stroke. eliquis can cause serious and, in rare cases, fatal bleeding. don't take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valv or abnormal bleeding. whiltaking eliquis, you may bruise more easily. and it may take longer than usual for any bleeding to stop. seek immediate medical care for sudden signs of bleeding,

like unusual bruising. eliquis make increase your bleeding risk if you take certain medicines. tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures. i may not be going for the big one, but i'm still going for my best. and for eliquis. reduced risk of stroke, plus less major bleeding. ask your doctor if switching to eliquis is right for you.

and that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports," tomorrow on the show, we'll be live on the deck of the intrepid sea, air, and space museum. with hillary clinton and donald trump back to back live on nbc and msnbc. that all starting at 8:00 eastern, we'll there at noon of course, tonight at 11:00, stay right here on msnbc, tune in for the premier of the 11th hour with brian williams. a unique look at the major political stories of the day. remember, follow the show online, facebook, and hallie jackson is up next here on msnbc. >> hi andrea, good afternoon to you, i'm hallie jackson, let's get to the road map to 2016. dualing battleground maps from hillary clinton and donald trump. that's happening towards the end of the hour. clinton in florida, trump in virginia. we will be bringing both of those to you life. meanwhile, the candidates sparing no chance to hammer each

other. >> aye been saying more months he's unqualified, temperamentally unfit. >> i don't think she has a presidential look and you need a presidential look, you have to get the job done. >> we're going to run a campaign of issues, not insults. >> so let me just tell you about joking, i don't joke. look at the deals she's made it. >> 63 days out from the presidential race with both trump and clinton each able to claim a lead somewhere, but the big surprise this hour could texas end up a toss-up? and with reports russia maybe trying to interfere with the u.s. election, new this hour, we hear from two top generals supporting trump and clinton as the candidates get ready to face off in that town hall tomorrow on nbc and msnbc. we've got four reports now on a sprint to election day, just nine weeks away. a ton of ground